Rhaegalur and Elara appeared along the path, laden with burlap sacks full of supplies, glass bottles clinking, and the scents of city spices. Rhaegalur stopped abruptly upon seeing the felled Ironwood tree right outside his door.
The roar of the fallen tree was still vibrating in the ozone-charged air when the unmistakable creak of a wagon and the heavy thud of hooves announced the return of the hosts. The clearing, once orderly and silent, now looked like a scientific battlefield: a stone slab covered in charred calculations, an Ironwood trunk pierced by a perfect hole, and two teenagers, exhausted but vibrating with a new energy, trying to catch their breath.
Rhaegalur appeared first, emerging from the brush with his usual imposing presence. He carried a huge burlap sack on his shoulder, but froze instantly as soon as his golden eyes fell upon the disaster. Behind him, Elara, her cheeks flushed from the wind and her arms full of bags, almost dropped a packet of aromatic herbs.
"By the scales of the water dragon," Rhaegalur murmured, his voice vibrating like distant thunder. He approached the fallen trunk, ignoring the children for a moment. He ran a calloused finger over the edge of the hole. It was smooth, cauterized by the pure friction of the compressed air.
"Uh... what happened here?" the Dragon God asked, arching a golden eyebrow as he looked at Hayjin, who was still sitting on the ground, and Zhilian, who looked ready to explode with joy.
Zhilian scrambled to her feet, frantically dusting off her tunic. "Rhaegalur! Elara! You should have seen it! Hayjin used... he used a strange magic called 'physics!' He created a sort of mana funnel and fired an air bullet! The Ironwood shattered as if it were glass!"
"It happened," Hayjin said, standing up with difficulty but with a straight back. "What happened, my dear Rhaegalur, is that science has arrived on Alius. And it intends to stay."
Rhaegalur turned slowly toward Hayjin, who was still drenched in sweat. The former Dragon God said nothing for long seconds, but in his eyes flashed a respect he had never shown before.
Elara smiled, sensing everything from the warmth in the boy's eyes. "That's fantastic, Hayjin! I knew you would find your way, my little one."
She lunged into a big, affectionate hug, targeting Hayjin. "Come on, Elara," he protested weakly.
"Now get inside; the shopping is done and dinner won't cook itself. We have much to celebrate tonight."
The enthusiasm of the discovery was abruptly interrupted by the tone of voice Rhaegalur adopted immediately after. He cleared his throat, and his figure seemed to stiffen, as if he were reciting a royal edict.
"Zhilian," he began, and the princess's heart seemed to skip a beat. "The trip to Opes wasn't just for supplies. I spoke with the kingdom's sages and, above all, with the Magic Knights of Opes. They searched for you all night yesterday and are in a total frenzy now. The news of your disappearance in the forest has triggered a near Rank B alert."
Zhilian lowered her hands, her smile slowly fading. "So...?"
"So you must return home. Immediately," Rhaegalur continued with a note of regret. "They specifically asked me to escort you back to the palace before full night falls. The sages will not accept a single minute of further delay."
"But Rhaegalur!" she exclaimed, stepping forward with watery eyes. "Please! Just one more night. Only one! We've just started to understand how Hayjin's flow works. If I stay, tomorrow we could stabilize the shot and... and then there's Elara, I wanted to help her with the new infusions..."
Rhaegalur shook his head solemnly. "Your presence here is a gift, Princess, but your absence from Opes is causing everyone to worry. The Royal Palace wants you within its walls. I cannot disobey such an explicit request without drawing suspicion to the safety of this cabin not even I, a Dragon God."
Zhilian clenched her fists, her shoulders trembling slightly. She looked at the cabin, looked at the fire beginning to glow in the hearth, and then looked at Hayjin. In less than twenty-four hours, this wild place had become more "home" than the cold marble castle had ever been. But the duty of the lineage of Opes was a golden chain that could not be broken.
"I understand," she murmured, her voice cracking. "I will obey."
Elara approached her with infinite sweetness. Zhilian, forgetting all etiquette and royal protocol, threw herself into her arms in a powerful hug, burying her face in the shoulder of the woman who smelled of cinnamon and wood.
"Thank you, Elara. Thank you for not treating me just as a princess, but as a person," Zhilian whispered. Elara stroked her brown hair, returning the embrace with motherly warmth.
Then, Zhilian stepped away and approached Hayjin. The boy had remained on the sidelines, watching the scene with his usual cynical scowl, but inside he felt a strange void that he couldn't scientifically explain.
"Hey," Hayjin said, trying to break the ice. "Don't take it too hard, kid. Look on the bright side: from Opes to here is only a few hours' journey for Rhaegalur. We aren't going to another planet... though sometimes it feels that way. We can see each other whenever we want. It's not a goodbye, it's just a... see you later."
Zhilian sniffled, looking him in the eyes. "You're right. You're always right with your stupid, hateful logic." Suddenly, the sadness on her face was wiped away by a flash of irrepressible joy. "But I can't leave without telling you how proud I am of you!"
Without giving him time to react, Zhilian leaned forward and planted a quick, loud kiss on his cheek. "You were incredible, Hayjin! Never stop dreaming of exploring the world. Your progress today was one of the greatest miracles I have ever seen!"
Hayjin froze. He felt the heat of the kiss burning on his skin more than fire mana. His eyes widened and his cheeks turned a scarlet red that would have made an Alius sunset envious. Rhaegalur and Elara, a few steps away, blushed in turn from surprise, exchanging a look filled with complicit and amused happiness.
"I... well... yeah, alright," Hayjin stammered, scratching the back of his neck nervously while Zhilian laughed at his confusion.
Rhaegalur leaned down, offering his massive back to the princess. "It's time to go, little one."
Zhilian climbed nimbly onto the former God's shoulders, turning one last time as he began to move toward the path. "Hayjin! Promise me you won't stop training! I'll come visit you every time I can evade the Magic Knights' guard, and I'll help you with the grimoire theory. I'll take you to the Academy, I promise! You'll become one of the greatest mages Alius has ever seen after me, of course, hahaha!"
Hayjin took a step forward, raising a hand toward her. His voice was no longer that of a child, but had the firmness of a man who has found a purpose. "And I promise you one thing, Zhilian. I will help you become Queen. Not a sovereign who hides, but the Combat Queen you dream of being. I will help you until the end, with every atom of this power. I swear it!"
Zhilian waved her hand, radiant, until Rhaegalur's silhouette began to blend into the shadows of the forest. Before vanishing into the thicket, Zhilian turned one last time, shouting: "And remember, Hayjin! Whenever you want, you can come to the palace, or I'll ask Rhaegalur to bring you here. Consider it an open bridge between this cabin and the royal palace!"
Silence returned to reign over the clearing, but it was a different silence. It was no longer the silence of solitude, but the quiet after a solemn promise. Hayjin stood staring at the spot where they had disappeared for long minutes, until Elara's hand rested on his shoulder.
"You took giant steps today, my little one," she said softly. "Both with magic and with your heart, hahaha."
Hayjin looked at his hand, then at the felled trunk. "It's not enough, Elara. I have to improve more. For myself, sure... but now I have to do it for them too. For Wren, who gave me the first spark, and for Zhilian, who believed in me when even I couldn't."
He felt the weight of that responsibility, but it was no longer a weight that crushed him; it was armor that made him stronger.
"Would you like to help me prepare dinner?" Elara asked, pointing to the bags full of fresh ingredients brought from Opes. "I got some star mushrooms and magical venison. We'll need energy for tomorrow."
Hayjin managed a smile, his first true smile of inner peace. "Sure. But don't expect me to cook with physics. The heat of the fire is enough for me tonight."
They entered the cabin as the moons of Alius began to shine in the sky, illuminating a world that no longer seemed like a cosmic error, but the stage for a legend being written, equation by equation.
[Journey to Opes]
The return journey to Opes was a blink of an eye for a being like Rhaegalur. The landscape of Exilia flowed beneath them like a dark velvet ribbon, interrupted only by the silvery glint of rivers reflecting the three moons. Zhilian, clinging to the former God's massive shoulders, felt the icy wind lash her face, but the warmth of the kiss given to Hayjin still seemed to burn on her lips, protecting her from the cold.
When the cyclopean walls of Opes appeared on the horizon, illuminated by thousands of magical lanterns, the princess's heart tightened. The castle soared like a white dragon's tooth against the night sky, magnificent and terrible.
Rhaegalur landed with the lightness of a feather in the inner courtyard, an area reserved for the royal family and protected by concealment spells. The silence that greeted them was ghostly, broken only by the hum of the magical barriers.
Zhilian stepped onto the ground, her legs trembling slightly from the journey. She turned toward her silent protector. Despite his austere nature, Rhaegalur had been the only bridge between her and freedom. In a surge of gratitude, Zhilian wrapped him in a sudden hug, pressing her face against his armor of leather and scales.
"Thank you, Rhaegalur," she whispered with a trembling voice. "Thank you for bringing me back... and thank you for letting me stay with you for a while."
The Dragon God remained motionless for an instant, then a massive, heavy hand rested with unsuspected delicacy on the girl's head. "Destiny weaves bizarre threads, little one. Do not let the shadows of this palace extinguish what you saw today in the forest."
With a final nod of the head, Rhaegalur dissolved into the darkness, leaving Zhilian alone in the vast courtyard.
The princess looked around, expecting to see guards in distress, her mother the Queen in tears, or at least an advisor ready to scold her. But there was no one. The high windows of the palace were dark, and the marble corridors opening before her looked like the throats of a glacier. No one was waiting for her return. To the official world, Zhilian was an icon of perfection; if she disappeared, it was a bureaucratic problem, not a heartache.
Suddenly, a movement on the second floor caught her attention. On a shaded balcony, the small silhouette of Wren stood still. Her little sister was watching her with wide eyes, her face pale as the moon. Zhilian felt a shiver of hope. "Wren!" she tried to call in a low voice, forcing a tired smile.
But Wren did not answer. The child remained staring at her for a long, interminable moment, with an indecipherable expression that seemed a mix of envy, fear, and resentment. Then, without a gesture of greeting, she turned and vanished into the darkness of the inner rooms, letting the heavy velvet curtains close behind her.
It was the final straw.
Zhilian felt her chest rip open. The loneliness of the castle hit her with the force of a physical sledgehammer. She began to run toward the stairs, tripping over her dirty cloak, as the first warm tears began to wet her face. Once she reached her room, she barred the door with a desperate burst of magic and collapsed onto the silk bed. She wept uncontrollably, violent sobs shaking her thin body. There, amidst the gold embroidery and precious stones, the Princess of Opes felt poorer and more alone than a beggar in the ruins, longing for the scent of stew and the warmth of a cabin that did not belong to her.
[Return to the Cabin]
At the same instant, miles away, peace reigned in Rhaegalur's small house. Dinner had been eaten in a comforting silence. Elara had cooked the venison with herbs that released a balsamic aroma, and the freshly baked bread had filled their stomachs and warmed their spirits.
Hayjin was helping Elara clear the table, moving with a slowness that betrayed the immense mental effort of the afternoon. When he finally sat before the fire, he found Rhaegalur staring at him with an intensity that made him uneasy.
"Elara has gone to prepare the beds," the former God began, crossing his muscular arms. "Now, human, tell me the truth. I have seen many Rank S mages in ten thousand years. I have seen dragons breathe fire capable of melting mountains. But I have never heard a burst of air move in that way. There was no 'magical will' in your attack. There was something else."
Hayjin sighed, looking at the dying embers. "It's hard to explain, Rhaegalur. On Alius, you ask mana to become something. You visualize the final effect and hope your mental strength is sufficient to bend the energy."
"And what do you do?" Rhaegalur asked, leaning forward.
"I don't ask for anything," Hayjin replied with an almost cold tone. "I use the structure of matter. I used a different method, something that comes from my world. We call it 'science' there. Instead of pushing the wind with brute force, I created a pressure vacuum and used geometry to accelerate the flow. I forced the mana to follow an inviolable physical law instead of a whim of my mind."
Rhaegalur remained silent. In his millennial mind, he was trying to process the concept. He, who had ruled the heavens with the pure power of divine blood, found himself before a child who spoke of "geometry" and "pressure" to overcome the limits of nature.
"So," Rhaegalur resumed in a low voice, "you are not learning our magic. You are rewriting the rules of the game using a language that only you know."
"I suppose so," Hayjin admitted.
Rhaegalur burst into a sudden laugh, a deep sound that made the window panes vibrate. "Genius. And absolutely insane. If the World Association found out that a kid is tearing down the laws of Alian magic with the 'vacuum,' they'd lock you in a tower or make you a saint."
The former God stood up, placing a heavy hand on Hayjin's shoulder. For the first time, there was no shadow of doubt in his touch. "You are a truly strange boy, Hayjin, hahaha."
Hayjin nodded, finally feeling the weight of exhaustion overcome him. As he headed toward his makeshift bed, he cast a final thought to Zhilian, hoping that, somehow, she too had found a bit of that peace, unaware that the princess's heart was breaking in the silence of a throne too big for a lonely girl.
The fire in the hearth was now reduced to a carpet of pulsing embers, casting long, irregular shadows on the wooden walls of the cabin. Elara had retired long ago, leaving the two "men" of the house alone with the weight of their thoughts. Rhaegalur sat on his sturdy oak bench, intent on running a whetstone over the blade of his axe a rhythmic, metallic sound that seemed to mark the very heartbeat of time.
Hayjin, lying on his bedding, could not close his eyes. His mind was a particle accelerator, a whirlwind of physical equations and faded memories of a world that seemed to belong to another life, to another man.
"Rhaegalur," Hayjin murmured, his voice low so as not to wake Elara, yet firm.
The former Dragon God did not stop sharpening the blade, but his golden eyes shifted toward the boy. "Can't you sleep, Hayjin? Too many thoughts in your heart or in your head?"
Hayjin sat up, looking at the ceiling of the cabin. "Both. I was thinking... I never believed Alius would change me so quickly. When I died in that alley, amidst the smoke and... Sarah... I thought my story was over. Then I woke up here, in this tiny body, surrounded by giant forests and strange cults..."
"For the first few days, I was truly in a state of shock. I thought only of how to go back, how to correct what I considered a 'system error.'"
He paused, staring at the red glow of the hearth. "I was cynical, and I was convinced that the world this world included was just a place where the strong crush the weak and where I, despite my intelligence, would always and forever be at the back of the line. I was angry with myself, with my professors, with life. I felt like a defective spare part."
Rhaegalur stopped sharpening the axe. The silence that followed was thick, filled only by the crackling of the wood. "And now? What do you see when you look at your hands?"
"I see someone who has suffered, both there and here," Hayjin replied, his voice carrying a tremor of sincere emotion. "But finally, I also see someone who has started to feel something that cannot be measured with simple instruments. Elara's kindness, Wren's blind trust, Zhilian's desperate hope... and your protection. All these things have started to crumble the wall I built around myself to stop the pain."
He turned toward the giant. "I want to change, Rhaegalur. I don't want to be that nervous boy hiding behind books because he's afraid to fail anymore. I want to become a better person. Not just a powerful mage or a genius of applied physics... I want to be someone others can count on. I want to do it for Wren, who sees me as a hero. I want to do it for Zhilian, who needs someone to see her for who she truly is and not for the crown she wears. But above all, I want to do it for myself."
Hayjin clenched his fists against the wool of the blanket. "I want to wake up in the morning and no longer feel that void in my stomach. I want my existence to have a meaning that goes beyond a solved equation. If Alius has given me a second chance, I don't want to waste it just trying to survive. I want to live. I want to rewrite who I am, one step at a time."
Rhaegalur observed him for a long while. There was no trace left of the stern god or the gruff woodsman; in his eyes was the wisdom of one who has seen eras born and die, yet remained marveled by the determination of a human soul.
"Change is the most painful process in the universe, Hayjin," Rhaegalur said with a solemnity that made the air vibrate. "To change, a part of you must die so that another may be born. Stars must collapse to create the elements of life. You have already lived through your collapse. What I see now is no longer a system error, but the beginning of a new natural law."
The former God rose, imposing, and approached Hayjin's bedding, placing a massive hand on the boy's shoulder. "You are no longer just a passenger in this world. You are an architect. And if you have decided to build a better man from the ashes of the old one, I will be here to hold the foundations until you are ready to fly with your own wings."
Hayjin felt a deep warmth radiating from Rhaegalur's hand. It wasn't mana, it wasn't physical heat; it was the weight of a bond that transcended species and worlds.
"Thank you, Rhaegalur. For everything."
"Sleep now, Hayjin," the giant concluded, returning to his bench. "Tomorrow the world will ask much of you. And a man who wants to change his own destiny needs rest to nourish his dreams."
Hayjin lay down once more. This time, as he closed his eyes, he did not see equations or wolves in the shadows. He saw a path long and difficult, yet illuminated by a light that did not come from the moons of Alius, but from within his own chest. For the first time after a lifetime of frantic running, Hayjin was not afraid of the future. He fell asleep with the faintest hint of a smile, cradled by the breath of the forest of Exilia and the promise of a tomorrow where he would no longer be "at the back of the line," but the beginning of something extraordinary.